Mortise template assembly



Sept. 21, 1965 K. DAMIJONAITIS ETAL 3,205,861

' MORTISE TEMPLATE ASSEMBLY Filed Oct. 26, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS a! KESTUTIS DAMIJONAITIS HARRY T. HODGES BYZZW47 J w My? ATTORNEYS 7w p 21, 1965 K. DAMIJONAITIS ETAL 3,206,861

MORTISE TEMPLATE ASSEMBLY Filed Oct. 26, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 43 KESTUTIS DAMIJONAITIS HARRY T. HODGES AT TOR N EYS P 21, 1965 K. DAMIJONAITIS ETAL 3,206,861

MORTISE TEMPLATE ASSEMBLY 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed 001;- 26, 1962 W ml INVENTORS DAMIJONAITIS HARRY T. HODGES BYM WWI Kl TTORNEYS 7w KESTUTIS United States Patent 3,206,861 MORTISE TEMPLATE ASSEMBLY Kestutis Damijonaitis and Harry T. Hodges, Newington, Conn., assignors to The Stanley Works, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Oct. 26, 1962, Ser. No. 233,322 7 Claims. (Cl. 33197) This invention relates to an improved mortise template assembly particularly suitable for locating hinge butt recesses to be routed in doors and jambs.

One of the objects of the present invention is to pro vide such an improved template assembly that will accurately locate hinge butt recesses to be routed in both doors and jambs while being selectively adjustable for various sizes and spacings of hinges and for various sizes of doors and jambs. Included in this object is the provision of such a template assembly that will conveniently locate hinge butt recesses for the most commonly used door sizes and hinge spacings without requiring any measurement or calculation on the part of the worker using the template.

A further object of the present invention is to provide such a template assembly that may be easily assembled and operated and does not have to be turned end-for-end for shifting from use on a door to use on a jamb or vice versa. Included in this object is the provision of a template assembly having a novel end stop that does not have to be adjusted to shift for use on a jamb or vice versa for use on a door and that, may be positioned so as. to make it impossible to mount the template on the wrong side of the door.

A still further object is to provide a template that Will locate recesses for standard hinges while being easily adjustable for locating recesses for hinges of non-standard sizes.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a template assembly that will attain the above objects in a structure that is extremely durable, relatively economical to manufacture and that may be easily disassembled and compactly stored and transported.

Other objects Will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

. The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a template assembly embodying the present invention mounted for use on a door;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the template assembly positioned for use on a door jamb;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a router tool shown as used in conjunction with the template assembly in cutting a hinge butt recess in the door;

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of one of the frames included in the template assembly;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the frame of FIG. 4 but additionally showing a link rail in fragment which is included in the template assembly, the frame being broken away at one end to show the connection with the link rail;

FIG. 6 is a front elevational view of one of the link rails included in the template assembly;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the link rail shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary front view of the.

top frame included in the template assembly;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the top frame as shown in FIG. 8;

Patented Sept. 21, 1965 FIG. 10 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken generally along lines 10-10 of FIG. 8; and

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken generally along lines 11-11 of FIG. 8.

Referring to the drawings in detail, FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the template assembly of the invention generally designated 2 mounted for. use on a door 4 and locating thereon surfaces 6, 8, 10 to be recessed with a router 12, as shown in FIG. 3, for receiving hinge butts (not shown). As shown in FIG. 1, the template assembly comprises a plurality of guide frames 14, it being understood that the number of frames 14 utilized will depend on the number of hinges to be mounted and therefore on the number of recesses to be cut. I

In the specific embodiment, each frame 14 comprises spaced apart, integrally formed, end members 16 including central web portions 17, and spaced apart parallel side rails 18 secured to the end members by screws 19 and defining with the end members 16 a frame opening 20. A guide pin 22 for the router is mounted in the side rails 18 of each frame 14 to extend transversely across the opening 20 and to define a limiting end of the opening 20. The pin 22 isadjustably mounted in the side rails 18 so as to permit the length of the frame opening to be varied, by means of a plurality of pairs of holes 24 provided on the side rails and adapted to removably receive the pin 22, one end of the pin being split so that it may be resiliently snaped into the holes 24 to effect a secure but removable connection. The outer surface of the side rails 18 are provided with suitable indicia adjacent each hole 24 for determining the resulting hinge length adjustment obtainable by the various settings of the pin 22.

An end plate 26 is slidably and adjustably mounted on the upper end member of each frame 14 by means of screws 28 which extend through elongated slots 30 in the end plate 26 whereby the plates 26 are adjustable longitudinally of the frame to vary the length of the frame opening 20 for hinge lengths not obtainable by the aforedescribed setting of the pin 22.

Each pair of next adjacent frames 14 are connected by a link rail 40, which is slidably and adjustably mounted, in guideways 42 integrally formed at each end of the end members 16 whereby the longitudinal spacing of the frames may be adjusted. The link rails 40 are adjustably secured in the frame guideways 42 by locking screws 44 threaded through the top Walls 43 of each of guideways 42 and having tapered ends 46 (see FIG. 5) adapted to be received in one of a plurality of longitudinally spaced holes 48 provided in the link rails 40 at each end thereof.

In accordance with the invention, each link rail 40 is provided with scales or gauges so as to permit the spacing between the frames 14 to be adjusted for a desired door or jamb length, hinge length, and hinge spacing from the top and bottom of the door or jamb. In the specific embodiment, one end of each link rail 40 is provided with door length scales 50 cooperable with one of a pair of suitable pointers 52 embossed or otherwise placed on the guideways 42, respectively, for determining the various door lengths for which the spacing between. the frames may be adjusted. The other end of each link rail 40 is provided with two scales 56, 58 each in hinge length terms and cooperable with the other pointer 52 for permitting the spacings between the frames 14 to be further adjusted for the selected hinge length but only in combination with any of three conventional door or jamb length sizes and with any of four conventional spacings of the hinges from the top and bottom of the door or jamb. In the shown embodiments (see FIG. 6), both scales 56, 58 are calibrated for the most common door or jamb length sizes, namely, 6'-6, 6-8", and 7-0", whereas scale 56 is calibrated only for hinge spacings of from the top of the door and 8" or 10 from the bottom thereof; and scale 58 is calibrated only for hinge spacings of 7 from the top of the door and 9" or 11" from the bottom thereof. The top wall 43 of each guideway is provided with view slots 59 so as to facilitate the reading of the link rail scales 56, 58 during adjustment of the frames while each link rail 40 is provided with a scale identification plate 60.

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, the position of the top frame 14 and consequently its opening relative to the door or jamb is located by an adjustable gauge end plate 64 slidably mounted in the guideways 42 of the frame and adapted to be fixed in adjusted position therein by the locking screw 44 which is selectively receivable by a plurality of longitudinally spaced holes 66 provided in the gauge plate 64. The free end of the gauge plate 64 has a flange 68 extending at right angles thereto on which is pivotally mounted a projecting stop 70 for locating the gauge plate 64 relative to the top of the door or jamb, it being understood that the position or height of the upper most frame 14 is determined by the adjustment of the gauge plate 64. The gauge plate 64 is provided with a scale 72 for determining the position of the top frame opening 20 below the top of the door or jamb, that is obtainable by the various settings of the gauge plate.

The pivot 74 of the stop 70 is located through one end of the stop and on the longitudinal center line of the frame 14 while the other end of the stop 70 is enlarged so as to facilitate engagement with the top of the door. The free end of the flange 68 is provided with an abutment surface 78 extending normal to the flange 68 and dimensioned so as to limit the pivotal movement of the stop to 180 and to an area located on the front side of the frame, FIG. 9 showing the stop 70 in one of its extreme positions wherein counterclockwise movement (as viewed in FIG. 9) of the stop beyond the shown position is prevented by the abutment surface 78. In this manner, when the stop 70 is properly positioned for locating the stop frame 14 below the top of the door (as shown in FIG. 1) it is impossible to mount the template assembly on the wrong side of the door. Furthermore, because of the lateral positioning of the stop 70 relative to the frame, the stop does not have to be repositioned for shifting the template assembly from use on the door to use on the associated jamb as shown in FIG. 2.

An improved stop mechanism for selectively locating the template assembly transversely of the door edge or jamb in accordance with various door thickness, is provided comprising an arm pivotally mounted at one end to the central web portions 17 of each end member 16. The arms 80 are mounted for pivotal movement in a plane parallel to the web portions 17 and have their pivots 82 located on the longitudinal center line of the frame 14. Each arm 80 is provided with a stop 86 projecting outwardly of the arm at the free ends thereof. The stops 86 are dimensioned to extend beyond the rear surface 15 of the frame 14 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 10 and are adapted to engage the side edge of the door (see FIG. 3) so as to locate the transverse positioning of the frames 14 relative to the side wall of the door. Each arm 80 is provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced threaded holes 88 adapted to receive a stop screw 90. The web portions 17 of each of the end members 16 are centrally apertured to provide a plurality of abutment surfaces 92 on opposite sides of the longitudinal center line of the frame and symmetrically arranged with respect thereto, which abutment surfaces 92 are engageable with the stop screw 90 for limiting the pivotal movement of the arm 80. The abutment surfaces 92 on one side of the longitudinal center line of the frame are spaced at varying distances therefrom. in accordance with various door thicknesses whereby the pivotal movement of the arm 80 may be varied for desired door thickness by 4 changing the position of the stop screw 90 along the arm 80. Door thickness indicia 94 are suitably provided on each of the web portions 17 adjacent the abutment surfaces for determining the selected door thickness to which the stop screw 90 is adjusted.

In order to secure the template assembly in place on the side wall of the door or jamb after the template assembly has been properly adjusted and positioned for the routing operation, a plurality of nails or brads 100 are loosely mounted in sockets 102 in the frame 14 so that they can be driven into the door or jamb. As shown in FIG. 11, each brad 100 is provided with a compression spring 104 having one end engaging a retaining ring 106 fixed to the brade and the other end engaging a lower bushing 108 provided in the socket 102, for biasing the brad to a retracted position wherein the point 110 of the brad is unexposed and in ready position for the mounting operation of the template assembly. An upper bushing 112 is additionally provided in the sockets 102 for closing the same and guiding the brads 100 in their movement.

Use of the template assembly will be apparent from the above description taken in conjunction with the following explanation: Assuming that the door to be recessed is 6'-8" in height and 1% in thickness and that the hinges to be installed are 4 in length and are to be spaced 5" from the top of the door and 10" from the bottom thereof; the guidepins 22 of each frame are placed in the hole 24 indicated by the numeral 4 corresponding to the assumed 4 hinge length and the end gauge plate 64 is slidably adjusted to the position whereby the numeral 5 is read on the scale 72 corresponding to the assumed spacing of the top hinge, i.e., 5 from the top of the door. The link rails 40 are then each slidiably adjusted in the frames 14 so that numerals 6'-8" are read on the scale at one end thereof corresponding to the assumed door length, and the numeral 4 is read on the scale 56 on the other end thereof corresponding to the 4" hinge length in combination with -a 6'-8 door and with a hinge spacing of 5 from the top of the door and 10" from the bottom thereof as indicated by the data plate 60. The .stop screw of each arm 80 is then screwed into the hole 88 indicated by the numeral 1% corresponding to the assumed 1% thickness of the door. The end stop 70 is then pivoted to either the right-hand or left-hand extreme position limited by the abutment surface 78 and depending on the side of the jamb on which the hinges are to be placed. In FIG. 1 the stop 70 is shown in the extreme left-hand position (as viewed in FIG. 1) since the hinges are to be placed on the left-hand side of the jamb as viewed in FIG. 2.

The above adjustments having been made, the template assembly is then mounted to the door 4 with the end stop 70 engaging the top of the door and with the arm stops 86 engaging the door adjacent the side edge thereof as shown in FIG. 1. The brads are then driven into the the door to secure the template assembly thereto for the routing operation. Upon completion of the routing operation, the brads 100 are removed from the door and the template assembly is directly shifted :to the associated jamb to be routed as shown in FIG. 2 without changing the relative positioning between the frames or shifting the template assembly end-for-end or changing the position of the end stop 70.

When not in use, the template assembly may be completely disassembled by removing the link rails 40 and the end gauge plate 64 from the frames 14 wereby the assembly parts may be compactly arranged in a portable tool case for the convenience of the user and for the protection of the assembly parts.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the present invention provides an improved template assembly that will make routing operations a matter of ease and simplicity while at the same time providing a high measure of accuracy. Additionally, it will be seen that the template assembly of the present invention, with its substantially identical parts, may be manufactured at relatively low cost and to possess a durable construction which will operate effectively over long periods of repeated and rugged use.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, various modifications and adaptations of the structure above described will become readily apparent without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a mortise template, a frame having end web portions and spaced apart parallel side rails defining an opening, and means for spacing either side rail inwardly a preselected distance from a wall edge comprising an arm pivotally connected to one of the webs and having a pivot on the longitudinal center line of the frame, a stop on the outer end of the arm engageable with a wall edge on either side of the frame, said web being apertured to provide a plurality of abutment surfaces for limiting the pivotal movement of the arm for spacing either side rail inwardly the preselected distance from a Wall edge, and a second stop on the arm adapted to engage the abutment surfaces for limiting pivotal movement of the arm.

2. In a mortise template, a frame having end Web portions and spaced apart parallel side rails defining an opening, and means for spacing either side rail inwardly a preselected distance from a wall edge comprising an arm pivotally connected to one of the webs and having a pivot on the longitudinal center line of the frame, a stop on the outer end of the arm engageable with a wall edge on either side of the frame, said web being apertured to provide a plurality of abutment surfaces on opposite sides of the longitudinal center line of the frame for limiting the pivotal movement of the arm for spacing either side rail inwardly the preselected distance from a wall edge, a second stop on the arm adapted to engage the abutment surfaces for limiting pivotal movement of the arm, means for adjusting the position of the second stop longitudinally along the arm for varying the extent of pivotal movement of the arm whereby the spacing of either side rail inwardly from a wall edge may be selectively varied.

3. A mortise template as defined in claim 2 wherein the second stop is removably connected to the arm, wherein the means for adjusting the stop comprises a plurality of longitudinally spaced apertures in the arm dimensioned to receive the second stop, and wherein the frame is provided with indicia for indicating the selected positions of the second stop on the arm.

4. A mortise template comprising a frame having end web portions and spaced apart parallel side rails defining an opening, a pin extending transversely of the opening and received in the side rails, means for adjusting the position of the pin longitudinally of the opening for varying the length of the opening, a cross plate secured to one of the webs adjacent the frame opening, means for adjusting the position of the cross plate longitudinally of the frame to further vary the length of the frame opening, an arm pivotally connected to one of the webs and having a pivot on the longitudinal center line of the frame, a stop on the outer end of the arm adapted to engage a Wall edge of a surface to be mortised, said web portions being apertured to provide an abutment surface for limiting the pivotal movement of the arm, and a second stop on the arm adapted to engage the abutment surface for limiting the pivotal movement of the arm.

5. In a mortise template assembly, a top frame having a work-engaging side, and members and spaced apart side rails defining an opening, means for determining the position of the frame below the top of the work surface to be mortised including a gauge plate slidably connected to one end of the frame, a stop dimensioned to transversely engage the top of the work surface to be mortised and pivotally mounted on the outer end of the gauge plate for movement in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal center line of the frame, the pivot of the stop being located at one end of the stop and on the longitudinal center line of the frame, said gauge plate having an abutment surface constructed and positioned to limit pivotal movement of the stop to in an area located at the side of the frame opposite to the work-engaging side thereof.

6. A template assembly for locating hinge butt recesses to be routed in workpieces such as doors, jambs and the like comprising, top, intermediate and bottom frames each having an opening adapted to locate the recesses in the workpiece to be routed, a pair of links adjustably connecting the top and intermediate frames and the intermediate and bottom frames respectively, means for adjusting the position of the frames along the links to vary the spacing between the frames in accordance with a particular setting of the assembly, each link having a scale indicating various workpiece lengths and being calibrated to permit the spacing between the frames to be set in accordance therewith, each frame having means for selectively varying the length of its opening in accordance with a preselectable hinge length, each link additionally having two scales each indicating hinge lengths and being calibrated to permit the spacing between the frames to be adjusted in accordance with the selected hinge length, workpiece length, and

with preselected spacings of the top and bottom frames from the top and bottom of the workpiece respectively, and means for selectively spacing the top frame from the top of the workpiece.

7. In a mortise template, a frame having spaced apart end webs and side rails defining an opening, a plurality of pin-receiving apertures in each of the rails with each aperture in one rail being respectively aligned with an aperture in the other rail, a cross pin having its ends received in two of the aligned apertures and adapted to be received in the other aligned apertures for varying the length of the frame opening, a cross plate secured to one of the webs adjacent the frame opening and means for adjusting the position of the cross plate longitudinally on the frame to further vary the length of the frame opening, one of said webs having an aperture providing a plurality of abutment surfaces on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of the frame, an arm'pivotally connected to said web on the longitudinal axis of the frame, said arm having a stop on the outer end thereof engageable with the edge of a workpiece to be mortised, and a second stop positioned intermediately on the arm engageable with the abutment surfaces for limiting pivotal movement of the arm, a top gauge member slideably received in one end of the frame, a third stop having one end pivotally connected to the gauge member on the longitudinal axis of the frame for movement in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the frame, said third stop being transversely engageable with the top surface of the workpiece to be mortised, and said gauge member having an abutment surface positioned between the third stop and the workengaging side of the frame, said abutment surface on the gauge plate being engageable with said third stop to limit pivotal movement of the third stop to 180 in an area located at the side of the frame opposite to the workengaging side thereof.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,184,141 5/16 Sharp 144-27 X 1,194,936 8/16 Bemis 143174.2 2,660,803 12/53 Sacrey 14427 X 2,821,028 1/58 Godfrey 144-27 X 2,869,245 1/59 Bork 14427 X 2,927,378 3/60 Godfrey et al 14427 X ISAAC LISANN, Primary Examiner. DONALD R. SCHRAN, Examiner. 

1. IN A MORTISE TEMPLATE, A FRAME HAVING END WEB PORTIONS AND SPACED APART PARALLEL SIDE RAILS DEFINING AN OPENING, AND MEANS FOR SPACING EITHER SIDE RAIL INWARDLY A PRESELECTED DISTANCE FROM A WALL EDGE COMPRISING AN ARM PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO ONE OF THE WEBS AND HAVING A PIVOT ON THE LONGITUDINAL CENTER LINE OF THE FRAME, A STOP ON THE OUTER END OF THE ARM ENGAGEABLE WITH A WALL EDGE ON EITHER SIDE OF THE FRAME, SAID WEB BEING APERTURED TO PROVIDE A PLURALITY OF ABUTMENT SURFACES FOR LIMITING THE PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF THE ARM FOR SPACING EITHER SIDE RAIL INWARDLY THE PRESELECTED DISTANCE FROM A WALL EDGE, AND A SECOND STOP ON THE ARM ADAPTED TO ENGAGE THE ABUTMENT SURFACES FOR LIMITING PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF THE ARM. 